


no matter what

by kalebale



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Family, Future Fic, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24105832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalebale/pseuds/kalebale
Summary: “I think I’m too stupid to be in my family. Everyone’s smart. Lucy can add big numbers and spell long words, Mom can read books really fast, and Dad’s the best detective in New York. I can’t even study for a stupid spelling test. I’m...” A long huff escaped his lips. “I’m just stupid Mac Santiago-Peralta.”
Relationships: Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 5
Kudos: 90





	no matter what

**Author's Note:**

> another one-shot written in like two hours about one of my fav lil nugs, Mac Santiago-Peralta!

“Discovery.”

Sitting at the dining room table, Mac fiddled with his pencil while trying to remember how to spell the word. “D-i-s-c-v-e-r-r-y.”

Amy sighed from across the table, shaking her head. “Nope. Want to try again?”

“Ugh!” Her son’s head hit the table in defeat. “Sure...”

“You got it, babe. Just take a deep breath and think about it.”

He came back up with eyes closed and a scrunched nose. “D-i-s-c-o-v-e-r-y. Discovery.”

Offering up a high five and a wide grin, Amy beamed at him, “Correct. Now, spell government.”

Again, Mac’s face returned back to the table, absolutely discouraged. “Do I have to?”

Another huff escaped her mouth as she slid the spelling list back towards Mac. Getting him to do homework and studying was like pulling teeth. His attention only lasted for so long before he eventually got frustrated and gave up, wanting to be done. There was no doubt in her mind that Mac was truly Jake’s kid.

“You need to pass this one. Miss Erickson said you didn’t do so good on last week’s.” Amy stood up before ruffling her son’s hair, “I need to go check on Charlie. Keep looking at it and we’ll try again in a few minutes.”

With his arms folded on the table, his head rested against the crook of his arms, staring at the list before him. There was no way he could memorize all these. His head hurt. His stomach growled. He just wasn’t smart enough for this. His mom had to have known that. His dad talked about how smart she was. But Mac knew that he was never going to be super smart like her.

Peering over at the Switch that sat in its dock, a small smile grew on Mac’s face. The perfect distraction from homework. He looked around to make sure Amy hadn’t come back into the room before jumping off his seat and walking to get the game.

The Switch started up as Mac pulled up Mario Kart. He flopped onto the couch, beginning to choose his character and customizing his car. But little did he know, Amy heard the game start up from the hallway as she made her way back to the living room.

“Mac, that does not sound like spelling,” Her voice echoed down the hall. There was a rule in the Santiago-Peralta household, no games or toys unless Mom has okayed and signed off on all completed homework and studying. No exceptions were ever given. School was always first priority for Amy and it would be so for her kids as well.

Quickly ditching the Switch underneath one of the pillows, he sat straight up on the couch. Amy soon saw the scene, raising an eyebrow, “What are you doing on the couch?”

“Uh, just... Just seeing what movie we should watch tonight.” The nine year old replied, eyeing towards the large collection the family had.

“Mac, you know the rules. No Switch before homework’s done.” She crossed her arms, “Now, get back to the table and get to work.”

“Yes ma’am..” Mac jumped off the couch and dragged his feet back to the dining table, pulling himself up on the seat in front of his spelling list.

Whether. W-h-e... Why did they even put the letter “h” in the word? It didn’t really make a sound anyways. And border, why not include an “a”? Board, after all, has it. Why not border? And federal--

“Whatcha doing?” A smaller voice, five year old Lucy, bugged him all of the sudden, pulling him out of his focus transe. She got on her tippy toes in an attempt to see the paper in front of him.

Mac pulled it back as he gave a sour look at his sister. “None of your business.”

“Are you working on your spelling words?” She soon joined him at the table, using all her might to get onto the chair next to him. Her knees on the chair boosted her up so she could get a better view of her brother’s homework.

Between the two of them, he knew Lucy was the smart one and their mom’s favorite. She always did her homework without being asked, always got 100s and smiley faces on all of her work, and even read books reading levels ahead of her class’. Having been dubbed as their mom’s mini-me, Lulu was known to carry around a small notebook to mimic her mother’s binder obsession, taking notes on the word around her and planning for first grade.

“I said it was none of your business, butthead.” Mac sneered at her.

“Mommy said butthead’s a bad word,” Lucy simply replied, not letting her temper get the best of her, “Can I try spelling one of your words?”

“No! You’re being annoying!”

“But Mommy says you have to share! It’s a rule!” Her eyebrows began to knit together in growing frustration.

“I don’t have to share my homework with you, buttface!”

“McClane, I better not hear you calling your sister names!”

Lucy’s face bore a smirk in her brother’s direction. “Yeah, _McClane_. Now let me see.”

“I don’t have to,” He flicked her forehead, “Leave me alone.”

Reaching for her forehead, Lulu’s lips trembled and tears filled in her eyes. She soon jumped off the chair, running down the hallway in tears. “Mommy!”

Mac rolled his eyes and jumped off his seat again, returning to his spot on the couch. His homework was never going to get done. He was too dumb after all. None of those words would stay there long enough for his test, that he was going to fail again. What was the use?

He pulled the Switch out from under the pillow, playing content for a few minutes before watching it get snatched out of his hands.

“Hey!” Mac looked up with a frustrated look before switching his sour look for one of shock as Amy looked at him, full of disappointment, “Uh oh.”

“Mac, we’ve talked about this. All of this.” She now held a whimpering Lu in her arms, “We’ve talked about the Switch. And the homework. And hitting Lu. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” He sat up. Now was not the time to let his guard down.

“Really?” She put Lu down, whispering in her ear to go play while Amy talked with Mac, and joined her son on the couch. “I know this isn’t nothing.”

“Lu was being a butthead and I wanted her to leave me alone. So I flicked her.”

“Do you think that was the way to handle it?”

Mac shrugged, “Yeah, she left me alone.”

Amy rubbed her face, lost at what to do next. “And the Switch. You know you still have to work on your spelling. I was going to be back in just a few minutes.”

She watched him pout on the couch, looking exactly like Jake as he did it. Waving her hand, Amy hoped to catch her son’s attention once more.

“Mac, McClane, what do you have to say about that?”

Shrugging once more, he ignored his mother’s request. She stood up, shaking her head. “Go to your room. Dad’ll talk to you when he gets home.”

“What?! That’s not fair!”

“Mac, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Now, go.” Amy pointed to the stairs that led up to his and Lu’s bedrooms.

Scrunching his face, he stomped towards the stairs; but not without getting the last words. “I hate you, Mom!”

//

Pulling up to the driveway, Jake saw Amy on their front porch, swinging on the porch swing and finishing a cigarette. It was rare for Amy to smoke, especially since they’ve had the kids. The habit would only come out whenever she was at the end of her ropes with her job or with the kids after a long day alone with them. His gut told him it was the latter of the two.

He was quickly stopped on his approach to his wife by two small girls wrapping themselves around Jake’s legs, giggling and looking up at their dad with large brown eyes.

“What do you two think you’re doing?” Jake tried to walk, being careful not to step wrong and hurt them.

Lucy replied first, “Taking down the Daddy Monster!”

Their three year old, Charlie, chimed right in alongside her sister, “Yeah!”

“The Daddy Monster?” He scoffed, “You two are no match for his greatest weapon, his ticklish tickles!”

Bending down to them, Jake began to tickle his girls whose giggles echoed throughout the neighborhood. This was his life and he absolutely loved it.

Not long after, the three made their way up the stairs, Lucy holding on to Jake’s free hand and Charlie in her dad’s arms. Amy stood up, no longer having the bud in her hand, offering a weak smile to her husband before kissing his cheek. “Charlie, Lulu, I need to talk to Daddy really quick. Can you go tell your brother it’s time for dinner?”

With both girls nodding before running off, Jake stood before his wife, seeing the frustration written across her face. “Want me to take a guess which one pushed you to smoking today?”

“Take a guess.”

“Mac Jacob?”

“Ding ding ding! We got a winner.” She watched him chuckle before being pulled into his arms and then buried her face into his chest, “He just.. Doesn’t know when to quit.”

Jake rested his chin on his wife’s head, “Wonder who he gets it from.”

They pulled apart. Jake’s hands loosely gripped Amy’s frame as he offered a reassuring smile. “I’ll talk to him. Maybe it was just a bad day all around for both of you guys.”

“Mommy! Daddy!” Little footsteps came sprinting from upstairs, meeting the parents outside. Lucy’s expression, full of worry, caught her parents off-guard. 

Jake knelt to meet her eyes, sharing the same expression. “Lu, what’s going on? Is someone hurt?”

“Mac’s not in his room.”

Amy soon joined them on the ground, “What do you mean he’s not up there?”

“Charlie and I went upstairs and I knocked on his door. I told him it was time for dinner but I didn’t hear him say anything. So I opened his door and he wasn’t there.” Lu’s voice croaked. “Mac’s gone.”

//

“Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for him.” Rosa replied over the phone, pacing around her Brooklyn apartment, “Amy, I’m pretty sure he hasn’t ran too far away. He’s only nine.”

Minutes after discovering Mac was missing, Jake and Amy sent out the search party for their son. They called everyone at the 99, hoping one of them knew where he disappeared to _(while also hoping he just went to one of their houses to cool off)_. Amber alerts were sent out and all available on-duty officers were dispatched to the streets. They were going to find Mac, no matter what.

A knock got Rosa’s attention. “I gotta go. He’s gonna turn up. A thousand push-ups.”

Hanging up and opening the door, Rosa was shocked to see Mac right in front of her. His backpack overflowing with toys and a few clothes, his jacket drenched from the rain, and curls popping up all over. _(Rosa only told the kids her address in case of an emergency, and it looks like this is what Mac saw this as.)_

“Mac, what the hell are you doing here? Your parents--” Rosa raised her voice slightly at the kid. She usually did not swear in front of her nieces and nephew, but this time it was different.

His lips trembled. “Auntie Rosa...” Overcome by the cold, Mac eyes filled with tears.

Rosa met him on his level, pushing his hood back to see the tears streaming down his cheeks. She pulled the cuff of her sweatshirt down, wiping his cheeks. “Hey, hey, you’re okay. Let’s get you inside. Arlo would love to see you.”

Minutes later and a quick text to Jake and Amy about their son, Rosa and Mac sat on the couch under a blanket with Arlo at their feet. Mac cuddled deep into Rosa’s side, fighting sleepiness.

Even though she was the precinct’s resident badass, there was a secret soft spot for Mac, Lucy, and Charlie. The day Mac was born, Rosa swore that if anybody ever laid a finger on him (as well as one of his siblings), that person would be instantly dead. Nobody was going to hurt those kids. She made sure of it.

“Now that you’re all warmed up,” She looked down at Mac, “Want to tell me what you’re doing here?”

He bit his lip, shaking his head. Rosa rolled her neck, “Well, did it have to do with Mom or Dad?”

Mac eventually broke the silence with a whisper. “Neither.”

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows. 

It was rare to hear neither as Mac usually butted heads with them, especially Amy. Especially as Mac got older, they were continuously butting heads. He was headstrong, not willing to admit when he messed up and sometimes refusing to acknowledge it. It did not help that they were complete opposites. At least with Jake, they were both similar enough that issues between them eventually resolved themselves.

Rosa continued to investigate. “Was it Lu? Did you call her a butthead again?”

“Kinda,” He fiddled with the hem of his shirt, “Auntie Rosa?”

“Yeah?”

Mac gulped. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Why are you asking that?” Rosa replied, hoping to dig a bit deeper.

“I think I’m too stupid to be in my family. Everyone’s smart. Lucy can add big numbers and spell long words, Mom can read books really fast, and Dad’s the best detective in New York. I can’t even study for a stupid spelling test. I’m...” A long huff escaped his lips. “I’m just stupid Mac Santiago-Peralta.”

“No. No, you’re not.” She wrapped her arm around him, pulling him close. “Just because you’re not like them doesn’t mean you’re not smart. Being Mac Santiago-Peralta isn’t as bad as you’re making it.”

“Prove it.” He shot back, hoping his aunt would be wrong.

“Mac, you are freaking funny. Your jokes even make me laugh. And that’s hard to do, right?” She watched him giggle a little before reluctantly nodding, “And you are awesome at building stuff with Legos. I never thought someone could make the entire 99 just out of Lego bricks.”

“But it took so long.” Mac lamented as he threw back his head with his eyes shut.”

“But you did it and it was awesome.” Rosa reeled his attention back in. “And you love harder than anyone I know. I know that if something ever happened to your mom, dad, Lu, Charlie, or even me, that you would do your best to take care of us and protect us. Right?”

Giving a reluctant huff, Mac nodded. “Right.”

“And that spelling test,” She continued, “You’re gonna do fine on it. I know you know the words. You know you know the words.”

“But I can’t spell them.” He retorted, “You have to know how to _spell_ words on a _spelling_ test.”

Letting him out her embrace, Rosa pulled out her phone. “What’s one of the words you and Mom have been working on?”

“Government.”

“Spell it.”

“I’m gonna get it wrong,” He folded his arms, now facing his aunt.

“Mac, spell it.”

A final huff left him as he closed his eyes and began to spell. “Government. G-o-v-e-r-n-m-e-n-t. Government.”

“Got it. Give me another.”

“Border.”

“And?”

Closing his eyes again, he replied, “Border. B-o-r-d-e-r. Border.”

“Got it again. One more. A hard one.”

“Discovery.” He answered, watching her nod as a cue to begin. “Discovery. D-i-s... I can’t do it.”

“Yes, you can. Start over.”

Amy’s words echoed in the back of his mind. _Just take a deep breath and think about it._ “Discovery. D-i-s-c-o-v-e-r-y. Discovery.”

Rosa smirked, “You’re not stupid, Mac. You’re a smart kid and gonna ace your spelling test. And guess what?”

“What?”

“Even if you don’t pass it, I know your mom and dad are still gonna love you.” She ruffled his hair. “And nothing’s ever going to change that.”

Mac went in for a hug, wrapping his arms around Rosa’s neck with a tight squeeze. “Thanks, Auntie Rosa.”

“No problem, kid,” Returning the hug, she patted his back when they heard a knock at the door. “And speaking of Mom and Dad, I’m pretty sure that’s them.”

Falling onto the couch and hiding under the blanket, Mac sighed. “You _texted_ them?!”

“Of course I did,” Rosa hollered back from the front door, “I can’t hide you forever.”

The door opened to reveal Amy and Jake, each holding one of the girls. Rain continued to poor outside, drenching the four like Mac was earlier. “Where is he?” Amy put Lu down, trying to see past her friend and into the apartment. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He’s just hiding under the blanket in the living room,” Rosa pointed her head in that general direction.

Before even replying, Amy took off towards Mac, calling out his name into the apartment. “Mac? Mac, buddy?”

“Mom?” Mac peaked from behind the blanket, fighting the urge to return to his hiding spot.

“Hey,” She ran to the couch, pulling Mac close into a hug and peppering kisses all over his head. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

He soon gulped after the kisses, looking up at her. “I’m sorry I ran away.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe.” Amy cupped his face.

Leaving the girls with Rosa, Jake soon joined them, sitting on Mac’s other side and running his fingers through his son’s curls. “What did you and Auntie Rosa talk about?”

“I thought I was too stupid to be in the family,” Mac sighed while leaning into Amy, “But Auntie Rosa was right and I’m not. I’m a smart kid. And even if I’m not, there’s still a whole lot of other cool things I’m good at. And you guys are still gonna love me, even if I fail my spelling test.”

The parents chuckled, keeping their son close between them. “She definitely has that right. We love you, Mr. Mac.” Amy leaned down to press one more kiss to Mac’s curls. “We love you no matter what.”

"Even if I can't spell?"

"Even if you can't spell," Jake grabbed his son's attention. "But I know you can. If you're anything like Mom, you're good at a whole lot of things."

Thinking about his mom and what he said earlier, Mac turned back to Amy, trying to avoid eye contact. "I'm sorry I said I hated you. I didn't mean it. I was just really mad."

"I knew you were. I forgive you. Sometimes, we all say a lot of stuff we don't mean." Amy released Mac from her grip and motioned towards his backpack on the chair opposite the couch, "Let's grab your backpack, get home to finish your spelling words, and then we'll watch a movie tonight. Sounds good?"

"Sounds good."

The small family found themselves back outside once the rainstorm passed, loading up Jake and Amy's car with the kids. Before getting in, Mac ran back up the short staircase before hugging Rosa tight once more.

"Thank Auntie Rosa. You're the best."

Rosa gave a small smile, small enough for Amy and Jake not to see, and patted Mac's back before bending down to meet him face to face. "Anytime kid. Just remember. You're smart. Don't let anyone, even you, tell you different. Got it?"

"Got it."

**Author's Note:**

> and another happy ending because who doesn't love happy endings?


End file.
